As you drive through the City of Boston and other large metropolises like New York and Washington, DC, you are likely to see picketers marching with large signs and chanting outside a large downtown office building. These picketers have decided they are being oppressed or taken advantage of by their employer, and they need to speak out. They are taking a big risk, because, depending on their level of skill as worker and the relative strength of the local union, they might end out losing their jobs. At the very least, they are having to suffer the consequences of going without pay for a potentially substantial about of time.
In addition to the many economic threats, it seems there are other types of risks from spending hours alongside a crowded city street. According to a recent news feature from the Boston Globe, a Verizon worker was picketing outside a wireless store location when an alleged drunk driver crashed into him so violently that he was flipped onto the car and then was thrown onto the roof of the vehicle. This occurred a few minutes before nine in the morning. Continue reading